Reading Rainbow Redeux
I grew up with Reading Rainbow. Well, kinda sorta. The MEPA and I were fairly strict about television (that and we didn’t want to pay for cable) and pretty much the only TV the kiddos watched came via PBS programming. Reading Rainbow won out over Sesame Street and Mister Rogers. I didn’t want the television to be their babysitter so I would plunk myself down on the couch with them and we would relish our R&R time together.
image: geocaching.com “Take a look. It’s in a book. Reading Rainbow.”
The Grammy Award winning program aired from 1983 to 2009–that’s a lot of books! Levar Burton became as recognized and as trusted as Big Bird and Mr. Rogers in guiding children towards enrichment.
When Reading Rainbow went off the air, the world seemed a bit dimmer. Even though I hadn’t watched the show for years since the progeny grew up and moved to other entertainment *sniff* I still nurtured a soft spot for Levar’s brand of book boostering; if an episode aired and I happened to have the time I would watch it. With the passing of Reading Rainbow I thought “Well, there goes that wish.” You see, I harbored the secret wish of writing a book that might be selected as a Reading Rainbow feature read.
All is not lost, because Levar has fulfilled one of his secret wishes and has purchased the Reading Rainbow brand and is creating an app for this generation. He initially hoped to raise one million dollars on Kickstarter–that amount was achieved in only one day. He recently ended his campaign with a staggering amount of over five million dollars.
For more information go directly to the website. I’m looking forward to introducing Reading Rainbow to the grandkiddo. Heck, I might download the app for myself.
Are you nostalgic for a little Reading Rainbow. Check this out:
Or maybe this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFieOMWRZSk
It’s easy to see Reading Rainbow made an impact on one generation. I foresee its impact on this one.
But you don’t have to take my word for it.
Pam Webb 